Bound by Flame
by RendedHeart
Summary: When a ghoulcaller on an unknown plane lays siege to a Veldakken stronghold, he discovers that his plane isn't what it appears to be and that his mother, the witch Lelliana Vess, has hidden many things about his past from him.
1. Bound by Flame

Bound by Flame

I remember what my life used to be like. I remember when it was about figuring out who she was. I remember when it was about trying to survive. I remember when it was about slaying Lelliana. I wish everything was as simple as before, committing war crimes was always so much easier.

_There, finished_. I thought to myself as I closed my military diary. It was time to show Sarah the power of the void. "Butt whyyyyyyy?" She whined. "I'm not headed off to war, I'm getting married!" I was about to say something but she sharply interrupted me with, "AND I expect you be there. I gave up, it was no use showing her how to conjure a doom blade. "Alright, alright," I replied, "I'll be there." "Yay!" She jumped up and hugged me, I swear sometimes she seems like the younger one. I headed down to check on my reapers, see if all the ghouls were in order. My reapers had dug up a few blind ones, but I merely sent those to become skaabs. My army was ready. I took my seat inside the skull of a zombie Goliath and took my leave of my home. I didn't bother giving out any good byes, no one in the stronghold was worth it. And with that, my hordes of undead marched to the north.

The road north was arduous, however the dead do not tire. The battle was quick, the casualties low, and the war, coming to a close. The next stronghold was that of Veldakin origin, however it would be best to wait for night fall, ghouls had an advantage in the dark. It would also take time to plan an attack on a stronghold in the middle of an ocea . My ghouls could easily get to the stronghold through the water, but I would need to open the stronghold from the inside. It took some time but I soon hatched a devious plan as to how to take their stronghold. It took two weeks of sitting on our stronghold to get them to send their drakes against us. Azure drakes skimmed across the water, straight for the stronghold. It didn't take much to drop them down. A few doomblades dropped their forces. and with that, I ordered my reapers to take the corpses inside.

Two more weeks passed before the work was finished, and it was my greatest work. My ghouls surrounded the stronghold underwater. My reapers prepared to drag back the corpses, and my latest creation the scrape skin drake prepared to take their first flight. Each bore four pairs of wings, had no limbs, and had a iron jaw clamp that could snap a man in two. I settled on one of the drakes and prepared for my first flight. On second thought, maybe I'd best stay on the shore. I ordered a warpath ghoul onto my drake to open the stronghold. Just as my drakes were about to reach the stronghold, a fireball ripped through the sky and a voice sounded deep inside my head, _you're mine_. I turned to see a young woman skimming across the water, her hair lit aflame. I sent a doom blade to stop her in her tracks, but she discarded it as though it were nothing. I turned back to my drakes only to see their corpses floating in the water, burning. But hope was still there. My warpath had made it inside! _NO!_ I heard in my head once more. The woman turned to send a lightning bolt across the sky , but I drove a mind spike into the spell. _I don't think so_. I thought. How did I do that? I could feel my words reaching her. She spat at me, _I guess you think you're clever_. _Yes_. I thought. And with that a hand reached out of the ocean and snagged her heel. "Fuck you!" I heard her call out verbally over the ocean. With the woman gone I could see to the strong hold, but when I turned to it my ghouls had already made it inside. All I had to do was wait. As I sat watching the corpses cart out I thought of something. Where is the corpse of that woman? And not but seconds after a Hellkite shot out from the lake, the girl on top her fiery hair turned to soaked auburn, her armor rusted, her eves full of rage. She passed over once, her Hellkite torching my dead. She dropped down in front of me and said, "Checkmate," before knocking me over the head and dragging me off.

Wow. I was lying face down on something soft, something I hoped was my bed. "Morning asshole," the woman called out. She was about twenty three from what I remember, she reaced over and grabbed my shoulder. The response I gave was quick. And toothy. "Yeah, you're awake," she said, seemingly unmoved by my bite. "Mrnfhrmff!" I said, face down in the soft stuff. She grabbed my hair and pulled me straight up. "Pardon?" She mocked. "I said turn on the goddam light," my hoarse voice sputtered out. "We're outside," she replied a bit confused. "Oh," I said slowly, sudden realization gripping me. I flopped down in the soft mud, unwilling to accept what was coming to me. "It'll come back, I'm sure of if." Her words reached my ear but I couldn't comprehend anything. My eyelids flittered open and shut hundreds of times, but nothing changed.

I lay face-down for who knows how long as the woman packed some kind of bag onto her dragon. "Hanweir." She said, "eight years ago." My mind fluttered back to that time, when I knew her name. "Chandra?" My lips formed, uncertain of the words they were forming. Chandra tugged me off the ground and onto something hard. "Hold tight, this is your first time," she said. I slowly realized what I was on the back of. "N- n-no-no-nope," I sputtered out a bit late. The Hellkite took off into the air with a sudden lurch, sending me tumbling down it's spine. I rammed my stomach onto a scale, but I was lurched off regardless. I tumbled thousands of feet through the air, bound by runed ropes. I turned over mid air and hit the ground running. My body miraculously intact I let out a sigh of relief, happy to be alive, but frightened of what was to come. I wanted more than anything, more than ANYTHING, to be out of there. And with that, I shot skyward in a beam of light. I fled the entire plane, and found myself falling from the sky into the streets of Innistrad.

I woke in a cell smelling of burnt fangs and rusted iron. Hanweir's defanging station. "Morning sir." A man's voice called out. A cup that smelled of rust and strong tea reached through the bars, allowing my greedy fingers and parched lips to drink. I tried to speak, without luck, but was hushed by the man. "Rest now, speak later." I took the advice and went to sleep in my cell.

When I woke I tested my throat, without luck. I stretched my eyelids, but I was still blind. I heard the sound of wood screech across the floor. "I'm back," the same man's voice called out. I sad straight up and threw my legs over the side of my bunk. "I'm sure you have a lot of questions so I'll tell you what I can," he said,"We found you lying face down in the streets of Hanweir, enteirley surrounded by ghouls." "But what I find confusing is that they didn't attack you." "Drink this tea, your voice should return within a few muinits," he said, slipping some more rust-flavored tea through the bars. I gratefully drank and within a few muinets my voice worked once more. "Where am I?" My hoarce, mangled voice sputtered out. " militia camp outside Hanweir." The man said. Hanweir. My mother used to make several trips here for supplies. I've only made it once myself though." I said, my voice a little less shaky. "Well, there's someone outside the camp who wants to see you." "Can you guide me? I'm blind." I said. I heard a snicker as the man walked out. I shuffled out of my cell, grumbling and walked to the folds of the tent.

"JACOB GERALF VESS!" My mother's voice boomed. "Where on earth have you been!" She said, gripping me by the ear. "Ahhhhhhhhh I don't know there was this battle and then I met this girl and then I wou-" "What!" You ran off with someone?"she said gripping me now by the neck. She raised me off the ground and spat out, "Who. Is. She." My mother tightened her grip and raised me higher. But, before she could say anything her hand suddenly let go. Screaming, I heard her two feet run away. "You are a real pain in the ass, you know that." I heard Chandra's voice call out, just before I passed out.

"Drink." Chandra's voice was soft and kind.

"Thanks," I said

"How're you feeling?"

"Burnt out." I said, gratefully drinking some more water.

"Your eyesight will be back shortly," she said and with. That my eyes filled with bright color. Chandra's armor was off. She wore some kind of black pants and a grey shirt Without sleeves. She later explained to me that her garments were referred to as jeans and a tank top.

"You really don't remember anything do you?" She said, "about earth, about your home, about what your plane used to be."

"No, I'm afraid I have no idea what you're talking about." She grabbed my wrist and I felt a burn awaken my elder memories. Once my plain was called earth. But earth had been in exile it's whole lifetime, ad when leliana brought it out of exile she burned it's inhabitants out in an event known as the black sun's zenith. My memories were slowly pieced together. My last name wasn't Vess. I was once Jacob Wilson, but looking back is like looking back on someone else's lifetime. I had no idea who I was now. My spark ignited the day I saw my friends die. But, not all. As it turned out a large cat man took some, hopefully to safety. But first, I had some unfinished business. And I needed Chandra's help.

"So let me get this straight," Chandra said, "you want me to show you red magic so you can burn the stronghold, full of people who were once your best friends, to the ground."

"Yes."

"Cool let's get started." And with that, Chandra became both a teacher and a friend. She trained me hard, and I used my own blue magic to create fast spells and combinations. After almost one year, Chandra felt I was ready, it was time to destroy the very stronghold I built. "Ready, Chandra said, offering me her hand onto an Hellkite.

"Ready," I said, "hey there's something that's been bothering me."

"Shoot," she said.

"Who am I?" I questioned further, " I'm done with the name Vess and looking back on my memories feels like looking at a complete stranger. Chandra swung her leg over one side of the dragon, allowing her to look at me.

"You can be Jacob Avacyn Nallar," Chandra said, "from this point out you're my little brother. She patted me on the head as her dragon took off, forcing her to swing her leg back over her Hellkite. _Jacob Avacyn Nallar._ _I thought. I wonder where she got my new middle name_. Little did I know the ebon stronghold wasn't going to house what I wanted.

I arrived at the stronghold but something was amiss. No archers were preparing for our coming, no soldiers mounted their posts and a lone arbalest was the only equipment I took notice of. "Something's not right ," I said. Chandra didn't reply. "Chandra?" I said. After I finished the last syllable Chandra fell sideways off the seat, revealing a long, blue vein in her neck. "CHANDRA!" I shrieked, turning the Hellkite downwards and snatching Chandra out of the air with its claws. I hurtled off the Hellkite myself after we touched down. I rushed down the stairs and threw open each door the stronghold held; finally I lit the door to the library aflame and shattered it into ashes. Leliana stood facing the window. I said nothing and drew my sword, marching furiously towards her. I lifted my blade high and prepared to decapitate her.

"Please no I'm not-" she said, swiftly turning around. I ended her pleading with the swift cut of my steel. But I had not cut the woman who I was looking for. Sarah's head lay there on the floor, blood slowly dripping out. I slumped to my knees. /What the hell am I./ I thought. I looked at my reflection in the pool of blood I was kneeling in. My hair was scorched black, burned from all my failed spells. A single bar pierced my lower lip, protruding on both sides with a ball on both ends. A long scar rippled around my neck from a failed attempt at fire breathing and three long gashed ran down my cheek, a reward given to me by a baby Hellkite. I was grotesque both in and out. I was a murderer of innocents and my closest friend. I fell over face first into the puddle and lye there for several minuets before I remembered chandra. I raced upstairs to find what appeared to be a dragon and a boy of the house, Wesley. I didn't bother to draw my steel, I couldn't take these two combined, they were planeswakers. I stepped back, preparing to run.

"Leliana isn't here if She's who you want." The two of them eyeballed me closely before the dragon asked,

"Is he the one?"

"No," Wesly replied, "but he will do just fine. " the two of them lunged at me, firing an assortment of black, red, and blue magic. I dodged some of the bolts, but their ultimate spell struck me dead in the stomach. I lost sight of most of my spells, but with all the mana I could muster I let loose a torrent of flame towards he ground, and hurled myself skyward. I saw with horror a knife plunging into Chandra's stomach, and my I felt the same pain reel in mine. I fell from the sky and into the sea. It didn't take long for the creatures of he depths to finish me off. I couldn't planes walk, couldn't fight. I could only die. But even as my last breath left me, the only pain I felt was the knowledge that Chandra had died with me.


	2. Hellsiege

Hellsiege  
I lay on the beach, oblivious to my former self. I only knew one thing. pain. I remember being tied to the yoke of the damned, I remember the flayer of the hatebound whipping me with liquid fire. I remember being bitten by moon howlers and fang biters, I remember a spirit taking my body for its own. But this is not my story. My story stopped when my breath left me. But my story may start again. It all depends on what she does up there. The day she died her story reached its Climax. This is Chandra's story.  
"Where am I..." I said, laying limp on a sandy beach. the sand was so soft against my face, and the ocean smelled of lilies. Each grain of sand ran through my hair with- my hair! I reached up to feel my hair and found it dry. I knew where I was. If my hair was dry, but not aflame I wasn't in a plane anymore.  
"Welcome to heaven, miss Nallar." A voice called out. I turned to see a woman with wings standing further up shore. I reached for my blade but found it gone, all my weapons and armor were gone, and I had lost the ability to cast spells. I wore simple robes, and my one ally had disappeared.  
"Jacob!" I called, turning frantically, "Brother!"  
"He isn't here," the woman said, "he didn't, shall we say, make the cut." I continued turning frantically, disbelief in my mind. "Most would find it an honor I came to greet them personally, but you are greater than I, Isuppose." The angel said. I turned, looking the angel straight in the eyes. Avacyn had greeted me at heavens gates herself. I looked at the doors made of solid gold. The gates to heaven were covered with pictures, no stories of its inhabitants lives. I quickly found mine I traced the story to the point at which I am now. Before the gates. Avicyn standing next to me.  
"Why am I the only one permitted to enter?" I questioned, "Jacob has done nothing wrong."Avicyn said,  
"all will be explained upon entry." And gestured to the gates. I stepped inside. A new chapter of my life had begun.  
"Jacob is an... interesting case." Avacyn said, strolling next to me. "He has innocent blood on his hands, but then so do you."  
"So why isn't he here?" I said, almost shouting.  
"I care not for what he has done, I am concerned about what he will." Avicyn explained.  
"You can't judge him based off crimes he hasn't committed!" I said. I was shouting now.  
"Enough!" Avacyn interjected before I could speak another word. "I have more important matters to attend to than to hear your whining, so if you'll excuse me I'll be off." /I just screamed at the archangel./ I thought, /that'll end well./ Another angel flew down next to me. "I don't care," I said before the angel had a moment to speak.  
"Well, if you're unconcerned about meeting some potential allies," a male voice called out, peaking my curiosity. I slowly turned and saw a man with wings. A hammer lay at his belt, a shield his back. "Angelic armaments," the man called out, "I'm not an angel by birth."  
"I thought there were no male angels," I said.  
"We'll not till now," he said with a smile, "Zella." He put his hand out.  
"Chandra," I returned, grasping his hand. "Care to tell me what other allies I have?" I quickly followed with. He grasped my arms and lifted his wings to the sky, flying us to a deserted corner of heaven. It didn't take long for us to reach the corner, and the allies is saw were few.  
"Sarah," one girl introduced herself as. She had a cigarette between her lips, a single bead pierced the side of her nose. "I'm Jacob's sister, the one who's head he cut off," she said.  
"I suppose that makes us indirectly sisters," I said, "Jacob and I are bound."  
"Bound?" She questioned.  
"Have you not heard of such a thing?" I replied, shocked that Jacob had not made such a thing common knowledge amongst his siblings.  
"Jacob did not know of such a thing," she shook her head as she spoke, " he tried to tell me all of his magical knowledge."  
"Then things are grave indeed," my throat pushed he words out hollow. I realized that without his cooperation there was no way to resurrect him. At least, not from here. I turned to Zella, and his pale face told me that he had realized too where we needed to go.  
"No. No way. No way in hell will I go there," Zella said, clearly making his opposition to this plan.  
"Please, we need you," I said, "even if you do not go you can get some angels to help us," I needed more than this to persuade him. Think Chandra think!  
"You know," I continued, "No angel has ever breached hells walls."  
"Not even Avacyn?" Zella questioned.  
"The Arc Angel could never do it," the words felt like mercury, dripping of my black tongue, "You'd be a hero, a man using the angelic armaments fighting along a ragtag gang of fallen men and women, breaching the walls with the weapons forged in the dark times within the fire that does not go out."  
"I like the sound of that," Zella said. Yes! he was buying it. If I could teach sarah some magic then the everything would be in place! "Let's move out," Zella interrupted my thoughts.  
"Wait, but what about Sarah?" I quickly asked, "Does she know how to fight?"  
"Aye," Zella confirmed, "She's probably the best of us." I panicked. If no red magic was seen on the battlefield then the others would notice I had slipped away. It wasn't of importance I suppose I would be long gone before the others even noticed. I asked,  
"How long will it take us to get there?"  
"Under normal circumstances?" Zella continued, "Years. But I intend to bring 10 angels along, so you can fly with us. We will make the journey in days." I let out a sigh of relief, followed with,  
"Then let us take our leave of this place." I was eager to be gone of Avacyn's presence. Zella spread his wings and lifted off the ground. A Seraph of Dawn gripped my as she passed over, her wings spread in full as well. After a few minutes of flying I heard Sarah ask,  
"So how'd you die again?" I took in a breath. This was going to be a long story,  
"I used to fly with your brother ona dragon," I started off with, "An ancient hellkite more specifically. Your brother, he well," I needed to place these words carefully, "Had objections to heights."  
"Hah, my brother could barely look out his window he hated heights so much." Chandra continued,  
"Well because of it he vaulted off the dragon and landed in something toxic. Because I'm bound to him I share the same effects as the toxin, but It affected him slower because he used fire breathing constantly. The fire kept his throat clear." Sarah gave me an odd look,  
"Interesting." We soon ducked below a cloud roof.  
"Drop me!" I shouted, realizing that my power had returned now that we were outside of Avacyn's influence. The angel paused, then nodded and let go of me. I let a torrent of flame loose from my fist. I was free again. Free. I breathed in the air and decided to take myself for a spin. I let loose in a dive bomb towards the ground whirling downwards in a corkscrew. I then pulled up and did a loop while still in corkscrew form. It felt so good to be free, I valued nothing more. Zella gestured to a spot on the ground, and I pulled up there.  
"Alright," Zella started, "Just below us is hell itself, but this is not a full out attack. We will blow this spot of ground open and it will cut hell off from incoming people should everything go as planned. Then we drop down and hold our position, is that clear?"  
"Yes sir!" the ten angels shouted in unison.  
"Good," Zella said, "Chandra, If you will." I threw a fireball at the ground, ripping it open and causing the rocks to fall on top of the gates. The others jumped inside, but I slipped through a small crack between the rocks. Good Chandra! Now you just need to get to Jacob. I ran along the outside wall until I reached the section of hell I was sure was for Planeswalkers. I jumped over the wall and landed in a ring of thirteen Yoke of the damned. Only one was occupied. I rushed over and grabbed the hands Sticking out.  
"Jacob!" I shouted, relieved." The voice that followed was cold and horace, but more importantly it was that of a woman.  
"Sorry no," Leliana said, glancing up at me with two yellow cracked eyes.

I couldn't believe what I was seeing, Jacob wasn't in hell. I didn't know hell was escapable, much less from a yoke of the damned. I lifted my leg up and hit Leliana in the back of the head, knocking her out. I looked around and saw a beach, a temporary portal out of hell, but fastly closing. I darted through in the nick of time, leaving Leliana and all of the people I brought with me behind. I couldn't save any of them. If Leliana was dead then she was surely bound to Sarah. I didn't care for the angels lives enough to help them. I stood on the beaches of Innistrad. Alone. It seemed that another leg of my journey had begun.

A note from the author:  
HI guys, RendedHeart here just to let you know that there won't be an update for a while. I know there are a lot of unanswered questions about the plot but I hope you enjoy it nonetheless. I have to go back to school on monday and I am writing a collateral fanfiction of Mlp with three others. Between that, writing for my school newspaper and homework the next update will take a long time. Please have a great day and thank you for understanding


	3. Dominance

My feet were pounding on the beach's sand. My heart sung out in joy as I clambered through the rocks spindly towers. I breathed in the sweet smell of nearby stew. I am Jacob Andrew Wilson. And my story, is revived. I collapsed on the beach in a seizure. "Jacob!" My wife called out from the forest, however she was mute among the blinding visions that already surrounded me. Visions of an entire journey. It started in a forest. I was aflame and my cloths were torched and torn. My feet moved through the forest like no other, the animals fleeing by my side as the evils of hell poured from an open wound in the earth. Flame nipped at my heels, followed by devils, torching the forest. I collapsed, exhausted, just before the gates of Thraben.

I awoke in a bed, surrounded by familiar faces. I reached out my fingers and stretched them. Yes, I had returned to reality. I looked about me. I was not at my home, nor the town barracks. This was the doctor's house. A place I despised even more than hell itself. The doctor sat in a nearby rocking chair, slowly gliding in place. He smelled like prunes and baby powder. Baby powder, ha. Every time I tried to describe the old person smell I used terms that no one else new existed. Tears began flowing from my eyes, streaking down the side of my face, forming rivers over my temples. I sat up and looked the doctor straight in the eye.

"I'm going out there whether you like it or not," I started.

"No ye ain't!" the doctor shouted, "Not this time!" His face was infuriated, his eyes burned with rage, and his wrinkled and saggy hands were clenched into fists. "You can't remember the last ten years of ye life, Wilson," oh no, the doctor was starting in one of his rants again, "We found ye indecent, running through the forest, hundreds of devils in tow! And we have no idea even if you're on our side!" The doctor's breathing had grown heavy. I turned, slowly until my eyes locked with the doctor's once more.

"If you expect me to let my wife wind up chasing bears all by her lonesome," I snapped back "You're sorely mistaken." I grabbed my red hood and started out the door, but not before hearing the doctor whisper,

"I pray that Avacyn turn you down at her gates,"

"To hell with your Avacyn." I broke out into a run. I slid and ducked to make my way through the city as quickly as possible. It didn't take long to reach the gates. A nearby guard tossed a wolf hunter's quiver and a bow, fashioned with two embroidered blades and a metal shield. I slipped over the wall protecting Thraben and outside. Lorelai, my wife and commander, turned to see me jump down from the wall,

"I don't remember approving you for duty," my wife said.

"Ma'am, I'm perfectly healthy, Ma'am"

"I don't give a rat's ass soldier," my wife continued.

"Ma'am," I started, this would be tough, "I respectfully request permission to go on this mission, ma'am"

"Permission denied," My wife looked me straight in the eyes as she pinned a symbol onto my vest, "I need a trustworthy soldier while I'm gone for the next three weeks..." _Three weeks?_ I thought,_ How on earth does she expect to be gone that long?_ "... mpyres might come knocking while I'm gone, and until I'm back, you're in charge."

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am!" I replied, ending with a salute.

I returned to my house and slumped down on my antler velvet chair. How the hell did Lorelai expect me to do this? I was a warrior aye, an archer, yeah, but a leader, not a snowball's chance in hell. I couldn't keep the walls sturdy and sound. I glanced over to the fireplace, a lone pot of stew sat there, rocking slowly. It was my favorite. When I first woke up, lying on a beach of Innistrad, Lorelai was there, nursing me back to health with a lone pot of this stew. We made camp there, and that's when's she explained everything. It wasn't earth I was living in another plane, separated by an inpeirceable veil. Lorelai never told be how she knew all this. But then again, I never asked. Lorelai knew, well everything. No secrets could find their hiding between us. Perhaps that is what drove me to ask her hand in marriage. It she, who was my light in the darkness. She had made me truly happy.

Her brigade never returned. I took over as chief of the walls of thraben. We threw off every onslaught, every siege until the day she came. A lone woman strode up to the walls, her hair aflame.

"Who is she captain?" I asked.

"Aye've got nay idea sir," the captain replied, a bit of formality in her voice. The captain was fourteen years of age, and had received her command at that of not but twelve.

"At ease, Thalia," I returned. The girl was always so nervous, "y-yes sir!"

"Return to your post," I soon asked of her. There was something odds about this woman, something-familiar! That was it, familiar, familiar was what I was going for. Thalia had already returned to her post by the time I looked back. A lone major stepped foreward.

"Sir, you know that Thalia gets that way every time she's around you, the woman approaching has nothing to do with it, sir," the major said.

"She's too young for me major," I started and continued, "return to your post." The major saluted and went on his way. The fire-haired woman and I stood, staring each other down for the next five minutes . Then suddenly she struck out, hair lashing behind her, goggles pinned to her head, and auburn hair, pulsing below the fire with sheer radiance. The woman was drawing close now, she had burned the arrows fired at her, leapt o'er the shield wall of spearmen. And started closing in. My fingers reached behind myself, grasping at the fetching on my arrows. I pulled an arrow forth, two silver feathers lined to the inside of my recurve bow. One blue arrow lined o'er the woman's head, but by then she was already upon me.

"Wilson!" Thalia called out. But it was too late the woman had already grasped me in a hug.

I remember everything now. The woman was my sister, Chandra Nallar, and I missed her more than anything in the world. But I did not agree, with myself that is. /She's you sister! Aren't you happy to see her!/ one part of me presented. /NO! RETURN TO YOUR MOTHER!/ another raged. And finally a voice of reason spoke out, /Lelliana ended the lives of everyone you knew, and you can read Chandra's memories can you not? Then take full realization of the fact that she abandoned your sister in hell!/ I stopped and scanned her memory. Yes, there it was, her leaving my sister behind at the gates for me. I was nowhere to be found when she got there. I was released by... by... No. A fourth voice sounded inside m skull, sharply cutting through the ice and pushing the others back,

"Husband, I'm home,"

Tears were flowing both outside my body and in. My cheeks were soaked from my eyes, grey and green swirled around my pupil into an interesting color combination. My lip piercing was removed, my hair its previous mouse brown, light and streaked from the sun.

_You're a demon, aren't you,_ I thought. It should have been obvious when I remembered her pulling me from hell, no human could do that.

_please I wanted to tell you Jacob I just.._. I waited for her to continue, she needed to do so at her own pace. _I didn't know how you'd react._

_Lorelai_ I thought, _I don't care what your race is, you are my w-_ I pulled back to reality, a sharp pain digging into my shoulder. I looked up, my face coated in mud. Chandra was on the ground, an entire army trying to restrain her. But I didn't give a rat's ass. I looked to my shoulder. My entire body was so numb that I could barely feel a thing. I didn't need to see much, a furred ear, sharp teeth. I dug a wolf hunter's knife from my belt and jabbed it into the wolf's face, the silver lining burning the wolf's skull. I ripped my knife out of the side of it's head, grey matter spilling onto my shoulder and into the wound. Thalia screamed at the top of her lungs,

"Wilson! I'm coming!" White crept into my vision, tendrils creeping around and pulling o'er my pupils, whiting them out.

A crossroad cadge rocked slowly on its chain, two legs falling out and blood, trickling like a stream down to the tips of my fingernails, where it fell off in droplets, pooling. The rusty smell of the cage was distinct, iron and blood, deeply infiltrating my nostrils. My tongue pierced my lips, cracked and white, paled from the lack of blood. My eyes fluttered open and took in my surroundings. Four walls trapped me. Each was a dull shade of gray with blood splattered o'er the stones fitted into place perfectly, without mortar. I looked it the roof. There was a small hole in the roof, the edge of the moon just barely visibly, yellow hues streaking o'er my face. The door pressed open. Its hinges creaked, making somewhat of a whining sound as they formed the perfect portal for a man to walk through. He bore no armor, just simple leather cloths. His hair was gray and disarrayed. A young girl stepped through with him next. Bobbed hair, eyes swirled with multiple shades of blue and green, and stature that clearly indicated that she was young. The doctor and Thalia. My breathing quickened.

"I thought you should see the transformation yourself Ma'am," the doctor's words flowed o'er his tongue like poison.

"We don't know what will happen. Not yet," Thalia's words responded as her eyes drifted to mine. They locked there an endless amount of colors swirling between us. The streaks if moonlight in my face slowly turned to rods, then to bars, then to lengths until the shadows on my face were nothing more. The voices in my head returned. _LELLIANA AWAITS YOU_, one started. Another picked up, _don't abandon Chandra._ But, cutting through the air like ice was another. _Husband, are you there?_ I did not get time to reply. My head lurched skyward and my skin grew furred. _Wilson! Let me inside your head!_ Lorelai screeched, _I can stop this_. I could feel her grip seizing me, and I did nothing to stop it. _Yesssss,_ Lorelai hissed her voice very different. The fur shed from my face, my body returned to its normal state. I tried to speak but I was not in control. I couldn't even think my body was entirely cut off from itself.

"Wilson!"Thalia ran forward and cut the lock off the crossroad cadge. My body shifted. Lorelai slid out of the cadge, her new body shifting. My legs became slender, my arms frail, and horns sprouted forth from my forehead. My body was gone entirely. The demon Lorelai stood before Thalia, two women and the doctor were in the room now. Lorelai said nothing, she tossed Thalia to the wall with a flick of her wrist, and turned the doctor into a pile of ash.

"Thisss body Isss mine," Lorelai said, her eyes locked with Chandra's, who stood just before the gates, tears welling in her eyes.

"You fucking moron," Chandra started, her voice quavering, "why didn't you just come with me when you had the chance you dumbass!" Lorelai turned to Chandra but said nothing more. There was a grin on her face, a symbol of pride and dominance. She had won and she knew it. She threw the gates if Thraben off their hinges. And strode into the forest, the scar of he earth in her sight.

She strode up to the scar a wide grin on her face. Bolas descended from the heavens, wings spread wide.  
"Do you have it?" The dragon's voice let his words out with a slight anger. Lorelai held up a black ring, still grinning wildly.  
"It's yours, take it,"Lorelai said, lifting the ring as though to throw it. But, before the ring could be thrown, Lorelai let out a shriek of pain. The ring spoke to her, called of to her. _You're a very clever one, you are,_ Lorlai's screaming did not halt, _trying to pawn off the ring I gave to you wasn't the best idea though._

"Bolas, help me!"Lorelai sputtered through screams. Bolas took a few steps back. The ring levitated in the air, only to begin turning. The ring slipped, on it's own, onto Lorelai's finger. Lorelai went into vigorous convulsions, her body writhing with seething fury. Soon the body was back to its original state, a boy with shaggy black hair, a barbed lip piercing, and a red hood was returned, but not in control. His eyes were a solid black. Lelliana had returned.

_welcome to Innistrad mother,_ a voice rang in her head. She smirked,

_ if you think you can take me in a psychic duel you're sorely mistaken._ _I cannot,_ I started, _but he can._ Suddenly a blue orb hurtled through the forest, straight for Lelliana. It was no trouble to catch, she need simply to hold out her ha- oh god. The orb was a miniaturized moon, and the chained beast within her began to reach out. The swelling of her hands began, and her hair grew into thick fur. The red hood tore off, revealing a too big steel chest plate. Too big for a human, at least, It fit a werewolf perfectly. I stood strong, in complete control of the body. As my fingers grew the ring shattered, dark flames absorbing its remnants. I stood tall, in control. It was good to have my own body back. Chandra was looking at me, he eyes beginning to well with tears of joy. She ran, her arms outstretched. A smile twitched to my canine lips. Upon reaching a few feet of me I grabbed Chandra with one arm and hurled her back, but not before reading her memories once more. Cat people were called Nacatl, and lived on a plane known as Alara, and now I knew exactly how to get there.

_Don't follow me,_ I conveyed to Chandra, her deeds were unforgivable. The survivors of earth were close at hand. I quickly scanned Chandra's memory. There was the cat man, Ajani Vengeant. The plane was Alara. The survivors were close friends of mine._ Would they recognize me though?_ I wondered. It didn't matter it was time to rebuild earth, the multiverse would tremble at out feet once more. I am Jacob Andrew Wilson. And I am soon to be The Lord of the Multiverse.


	4. Arisen

Naya. A plane of absolute harmony. Life, growth, and order are all abundant here. But with the lack of blue mana, my red spells are all I can depend on. I let air flow through my nostrils and into my lungs. I took one step forward, prepared to find my past friends. I was going to rebuild earth. Suddenly, all the trees in front of me snapped, letting loose a torrent of splintered thorns and branches. I drew my breath in, widened my legs and allowed hell itself to flow from my jaws. The creature, a baloth woodcrasher, burned under my flames. Soon not but a smoking corpse was left resting on the floor. I drew a fiery hellhound to my side and mounted. I pulled an machete from the aether and drew in breath. Without blue mana I would have to resort to old fashioned tracking. But ten years is easily enough time for tracks to fade.  
I searched for weeks. No sign of humanity entirely. I drew my eyelids closed and slumped down to the ground. My hellhound curled around me, giving me warmth. Five hours I slept, deep and full of dreams. Thwack! A paw sliced at my face. I let out a deep snarl just before my hell hound pounced, turning the nacatl into a pile of charred meat. I looked left and right. Nine were directly nearby but I still felt odd. Suddenly hundreds of nacatl fell from the trees, surrounding us like no other._ Guess it's time to try out my new trick,_ I thought. sparks flew from my gloves and I twisted my wrists to drive the ground upward. The street spasm worked just as well on the ground as it did on the streets. Fifty meters out there were no trees, no nacatl, no rocks. Just smooth earth in a perfect circle. My hellhound strode forth from outside the circle. It stood, once barely inside, and turned to point its nose directly into the forest, into that which I could not see. I clambered aboard my hellhound's back as fast as I could, already in motion by the time my hands reached it. I felt uplifted, excited even. A smile crept onto my face and my eyes began to well up with tears. Suddenly my hellhound an I burst forth from the clearing. There, people went about their daily lives, draped in cloths from only one plane. Earth. A sudden club hit me just below the skull. Everything was consumed by blackness.  
"I'm telling you it's not him!  
"How else do you explain that shirt?"  
"It's Wesley trying to trick us again! We should kill him now."  
"Noah!" An older voice shouted.  
"Ahh what the fuck was that for?" I called out. The others in the room drew in a quick breath. The elder voice spoke again,  
"he's awake." I recognized the voice now. An old friend, my journalism teacher and newspaper advisor Ms. Phillips. With Ms. Phillips in mind the other voices fit with names in my head. Noah I was sure of but was the other... I opened my eyes only to see May, my close friend. Tears began to flow from my eyes.  
"How the hell did you get here?" May asked, eager to inquire upon my journeys. I kept nothing from her. Every inch of my tales was wonder to her ears. She always loved stories, and our sharing continued into the dark hours of the night. The man who had taken them here was Ajani Goldmane, and I owed him everything. He saved hundreds of innocent lives, and this particular town was Grandview High. Almost everyone was in their twenties, and most had already wed, if not had children. Later into our conversation I questioned, "what about you? Any love interests, any children?" I received soft snoring for an answer. May had fallen asleep in my lap, and I lay my head along the wall not much later and fell asleep myself.

Hours into the morn I began to stand. May quickly grabbed my leg. "Don't go," she started, "Jac-" I smashed my boot into her face, easily breaking skull.  
"Last time I checked you called me Wilson, May," I said in a mocking tone, "oops, my bad, you go by Lorelai now."  
"Whichever you like, Hun," Lorelai mocked back. My eyes narrowed. We stood there, eyes interlocked for minuets "You planning on taking the lead, Hun, or are you going to making a girl wait?" My eyes widened once more,  
"Well that wouldn't be very gentlemanly of me," I said, scanning out surroundings. A small crowd had gathered over the time that had passed. There was no way I could let these people interfere, they could get hurt. By me. Just as my lips began to part for a warning, Lorelai screamed,

"Help me! Oh god oh god Help!" It didn't take much to persuade the crowd. No ordinary man here knew how to tell a demon apart from a normal human. It didn't take much to defeat me either, I wouldn't hurt innocents, much less people I knew. They threw me into a pit, I could easily climb out, but I didn't, Lorelai would hunt me down, and make me fight my old friends. She had this whole village wrapped around her finger. I looked up from my resting place. A lone child looked upon me. His eyes drew to my blade.

"No." The child didn't take any other convincing. I looked back up to the sky. Maybe I had been a bit rough on the kid. I hoped he would come back. Sure enough, the boy trekked back to the pit. "What's your name?" I said, this child was very interesting. The child pulled a cap off her head and short hair fell down.

"Aphrodite, Sir," Aphrodite called out. She was dressed entirely in boys cloths, and the cap she wore concealed her feminine features.

"Did you know that you are named after the Goddess of love?" I responded, there was something else about this girl that I was missing. She simply shook her head. I eyed her for a few more moments, but then out of the blue it hit me! She had a spark! Her spark was yet to ignite, but something was off, if May had found out she surely would have killed her, and it is unlikely that may would have missed something so crucial.

Aphrodite began to stare again, her eyes scanning me, looking me up and down.  
"I've never seen you before," she said, clearly confused by the fact that there was someone new in the village. Tears began to flow from my eyes, Lorelai would kill her, or take her for her own, neither was a pleasant thought. I sighed, I would need to swallow my pride, and I very may well choke on it.  
I need your help, I thought.  
There you are! I've been hunting for you for months! Months Jacob! Chandra responded in a furious tone, I could see her now, scolding me brutally.  
Lorelai is here, and I intend to put her to rest, for good, I returned.  
Good, we can take her down together, all three of us.  
Three? I was easily confused on this subject; there was Chandra, who, and myself?  
"Are you okay mister?" Aphrodite questioned, still staring.  
"Come now Aphrodite," A despicable voice said, "Don't play with the beast!" I looked up and interlocked my eyes with hers, deeply staring into her soul, if she had one. "You haven't figured it out, have you?" Lorelai laughed, deeply pleased by her words, "She's yours you idiot, She's our child!" My eyes went from narrow slits to dinner plates in a matter of seconds. This girl was no more than five and Lorelai was going to take her, her own daughter, as a host.  
"Wait," I started, causing Lorelai to turn, "What are you going to do with her?"  
"I think you know," Lorelai returned with a little creepy smile.  
"What about a trade," I said, desperate to save her.  
"I'm no fool, I fell for that trick once, I'm not doing it again." Lorelai's icy voice said.  
"Surprise, Bitch," Chandra said as she dropped from the sky, her hair aflame, a fist formed into a ball of magma. Her fist landed square on Lorelai's jaw, tossing her backward into the pit. I let a torrent of flame loose from my jaw, throwing her into the air. Then suddenly, a bright light shone from a staff, and the demon shattered within the holy light. I drifted my eyes to the mage who cast the spell, none other than my best and closest friend, Sarah. Our eyes locked, and did not part, even when the blade pierced her heart.  
"NO!" I screeched, even as blood dripped down the blade, welling in a pool at her feet. I grabbed her and held her, the blade still emerging in her chest. "Goddamn no, not after all this, not after losing you already, not after having to live without you," MY tears dripped onto the blade, I turned Sarah over, already dead, and pulled the blade from her back.  
Wilson we need to go, NOW! Chandra screamed in my head, that's Elbrus! The Binding blade!  
Oh shit, was all I thought, as the blade suddenly transformed. "Chandra get these people out of here!" I barked, pointing the people toward the forest's edge. Chandra grabbed the people and carried them in shiv's embrace to the forest's edge. Athena cowered behind me, the demon Withengar already taking shape. "Stay back," I said to Athena, pushing her back with a hand. Chandra fluttered down next to me,  
"Ready?"  
"As I'll ever be." I crunched into a position, preparing to let lose all my power on Withengar. Suddenly a hand came up, blood drenched, and already dead, but determined. Sarah's corpse was walking, and although I am not really sure whether she was still her, she sent the demon on a journey to nowhere, and he took her with him. We went back to earth, we rebuilt, started a colony. Chandra and I raised Athena, and in time, I forgave her for what she did. Chandra was my sister once more, we may not be bound by blood, but were family, Chandra, Athena, and I. Earth Was being rebuilt, all the humans on the plane were drawn back to the village, and I felt happy. Not content, not bliss, but warm inside. It was over. Lelliana was dead, Lorelai had been smote by holy light, and Withengar was in exile. I hope this peace lasts forever.

Next time in the Bound by Flame series:  
"There's no one else left?" I said, "Truly no one?" Gideon shook his head,  
"No one else is left, Garruk, Ajani, Jace, Sorin, all dead, but we have a weapon they don't"  
"What?" Athena asked.  
"You."


	5. Checkmate

There is nothing that is not untainted. Planes are plundered for their magic, worlds conquered for their glory. My life had been raped and torn until there was little left. My wife tried to posses me, my best friend died saving me, and mymother turned out to be my most hated enemy. I wonder, how much more is their to be taken? Or shall it be I who does the taking?

My daughter headed out to school. Every day she did so and I had duties to attend to. I was the god of life. Not in the sense of giving life, but in the sense of claiming it. I was the one who came to your grave and should I find you suitable, I would make you a soldier in the afterlife. Well, that's what the religious tomes say, all I have to do is make your corpse walk again. My sister, Chandra, is the god of fury. She has a burning passion, and I do mean burning, for freedom and is easily angered. My daughter is the god of neutrality, she keeps balance between us and is usually the deciding factor in a vote. There is one more god however. He is forgotten deep in the tomes and stories because he has not been seen in years. He is the werewolf that lives deep inside me. He is the god of brutality, and he is my enemy. He comes out rarely, and when he does he wrecks everything. And he always turns at least one person. Those turned do not die of natural age and detest the concept of death and being a soldier in the afterlife. This is earth's only cult. Of course, we are all planeswalkers, not gods. The people's whole religion was a lie they twisted themselves, a cover for their eyes to hide the truth. We were not gods. We were humans with extreme arcane prowess. We could burn entire worlds with a thought, but we didn't. I set foot on this rock to rebirth every last inch of soil, every living thing from the smallest ant to the largest of whales. My vision turned to the sky, I knew what the future entailed with its black secrets and hellish prophesies. Secrets that I Pried into. It would all end. The mass that was once earth would come to be a battle ground.

"My father sure is weird," Athena thought to herself. Athena's hair fell back onto her shoulder, radiating with beauty. Athena had been aptly named, for her eyes were a magic shade of blue, a lighter color than the sky itself. And her hair was a shimmering black, dark and ominous. Her skin was flawless, tanned from the pyromancy lessons that bombarded her every morn. Her feet were not dainty, however. They were not too large or small, however they were firm, stoic, immobile should they wish to be. Many a time did those feet save her, she would take a fireball and remain immobile despite having just been hit. Athena wore boots that were solid black, a shade darker than night itself. The boots were covered from top to bottom in chains. Each chain was raised with magic to hide below the layers of her black dress. The dress was red in he inside and black on the out. It was a part of her school uniform. She also wore a pair of headphones, hooked to her waist when she was not wearing it. She finally arrived at school. She was glad to see this hellhole. How she hated it. The school had bars on the windows, prison runes on the doors, and fire enveloping it.

An ominous man stood on top of the building, blood running down his disgruntled arm, hair smoking, face and back lashed repeatedly with his own whip. He collapsed off the roof, landing in a pile on the red stained lawn. Chandra jumped in front of Athena, her arm holding her back.  
"School is cancelled," Chandra said, her eyes firm on the man lying on he street.

"But," Athena started, in full knowledge that this was not debatable.

"Now," Chandra sternly said, her hair bursting into flame. Athena opened her mouth once more, but I quickly landed next to her and gave her a stern look. There was no point in debating this. She nodded, her hair bobbing over her shoulder. Her brisk pace began and she strides back toward her home. Our home.  
"You know I know," Chandra said, her voice burning with the anger of hot coals when they hit the water.

"I know," my voice quavered, keeping my fear in the open and easy for prodding. I quickly changed the subject, "you never told me how you freed Sarah." Chandra smirked, her lips cracked as she turned them upward into a smile,

"you're right I didn't." I pulled out a pair of cigs and turned them in my hand. These cigs were never wrapped, never bound. Like everything I used they had been born of the aether from the moment they had existed. The cigs held tobacco that was very much real, however. Tobacco tastes so much better grown. I lit mine with a puff of fire that formed from somewhere beyond my lips. Chandra took hers up to her hair, lighting it in a bright surge.

"I need to go back to Innistrad," I said finally. I had avoided the subject for long enough.

"Okay," Chandra said, seemingly unconcerned.

"I forgot you can read my mind."

"Heh," Chandra laughed. It wasn't exactly that we could read minds, as were more of a conjoined unit. "I can keep things under control," Chandra reassured. I sighed, my breath wheezing out like a deflating ballon. It was going to be a long trip. I took to the sky, and would not be seen again for some time. Chandra tipped her head downward, beginning to focus her eyes on the man on the lawn.  
"Been a long time asshole," Chandra said, her voice blank and emotionless. It was the first time she had spoke without passion, without vigor, without fury in her voice. She waked over and with a flick of her wrist lifted the man into the air. He was hers finally, and she had full intent on making him suffer.

I hovered above Innistrad, looking down upon it. There was one thing that had brought me here, and the same thing kept me. I flew down to the tree level, scanning the ground. It did not take long to find it. I lifted the ring remnants from the ground and tied them into a small satchel on my waist. I turned to the direction of the nearest city. The guards were undoubtably poised for my attack. I had been to the city before, in fact I had spent quite some time there. I pulled a red hood out of the aether accompanied by bladed bow. There was little left to do. I just needed to give one last goodbye.  
Whips lashed through the air drawing thin rivulets of blood from his face. His ashen hair smoldered at the tips. Smoldered, oh how she loved the word. The edges of his face were streaked with the burn marks that his hair caused. He maintained his demeanor, unmoved by Chandra's attempts.

"I want to talk to Wilson," he spoke again. These were the only words he had said this entire time. Chandra's brow furrowed. He knew the response would be the simple,

"No," that it always was. Gideon closed his eyes and prepared for another search. He once again sensed four magical presence. Him, Chandra, and two that were not identifiable. The two that he could not identify piqued his curiosity. He did not know of any planeswakers that had survived other than him. He was surprised that Chandra and Wilson had not heeded the call. Another lash grew on his face from his own whip.

"It's just us you know," Gideon's words were ominous, curious, "Wilson, you, and myself are the only ones left. Well, the only ones left I can trust. This did catch Chandra's ear. It grasped on for dear life and made her slow her attack, drooping the whip to the ground.

"What makes you think you can trust me?" Chandra questioned, Gideon's words finally reaching her ear.

"The enemy of my enemy is my friend," he said, beginning to recite the tale, "Bolas has taken on an apprentice, and this apprentice is more powerful than we could have imagined. He and bolas circled the multiverse, devouring plane after plane, killing planeswalker after planeswalker until only a few were left. Sorin, Jace, Garruk, Karn, and myself made our last stand on Mirrodin. But bolas took care of us easily. Only I escaped, and I would not have if Koth had not come out of hiding to help me escape. Koth did not escape himself though, he fell along with the rest." Chandra seemed to accept this warning. Her fingers rubbed together, forming a spark on the edges of Gideon's bindings. Gideon stood, leaving the bindings to fall to the floor. Chandra passed Gideon his clothes.

I looked upon the gates of Thraben from afar. The gates were stoic, the same way they had always been. I looked to the positions where I had always set my men. The positions had changed little, and the weaponry even less. I took long strides to the gates, my red hood covering my body. Black jeans rolled down my legs, creating an intimidating color combination. The guards on the wall poised to fire, frightened by myself.

"Hold!" A voice said, speaking with a bit of formality. The gates swung open, revealing a Cathar in shimmering armor. Her hair flew out behind her, leaving a trail of pure light. Another figure flew over the wall, his armor rusted and hair cut short. He appeared to be weakened, broken, depleted even. His limbs had shriveled up, barely able to hold the hammer that swung loosely from his waist.

"He has returned," the frail angel said, his voice sounding like sawdust. The woman strode forward, scrutinizing me with eyes like pins. She drew her hand back, flexed her wrist, and struck me directly across the face. The mark she left was in the shape of her hand, small yet firm.

"Where the hell have you been!" Was the only thing she said, at least before tears burst into her eyes.

"There's truly no one left?" She questioned, a bit of fear creeping in. Gideon shook his head, his black hair waving past his face.

"It's just us," Gideon said. His voice was strong. His heart, however was shattered. He had scars that would never heal, scars from that last battle with the dragon planeswalker. Athena eyed Gideon suspiciously,

"You're sure about this auntie?" Chandra told Athena the truth. It was not an oddity for her to do so, but she had not been sure about this for the longest time.

"I have entrusted to this man that which I value most," she looked into Gideon's pure eyes, "and should he harm it he will suffer, but I cannot go back on my trust now that I have done so." Gideon's eyes met with hers and they firmed a bond as tough ad the armor they bore. "We have some men deep in the caves in the mountains," Chandra began, "if we pull them out now they'll reach the surface in a week."

"There's no way that's enough time," Gideon continued.

"We have to try."

"I agree."

"When Wilson returns he'll take some undead to the fight, but until then we need to play defensively," Chandra voiced, "Athena you watch the skies." Athen a gave a sharp nod and a quick salute, then began on her way to the nearest watchtower. "I'm going to activate the barrier Wilson put in place long ago, hopefully it'll keep any of Bolas's ground forces out.

"Then we will still need to mind the air," Gideon finished, "I shall rally your militia." Chandra simply nodded, and she left without speaking a word, for she had matters to attend to.

"Hah!" Thalia exclaimed, "I can take twice that many shots!" The black ale, thicker than molten lead barely slid out of the bottle. I looked at it, if the stuff was any thicker I'd need to break the bottle to get it out. Thalia sent the last shot down the hatch. "Haha!" She exclaimed, showing her pride in her drinking capabilities. The bottle was soon headed toward my face. I held up my wrist and turned my palm to the bottle, slowing it until it stopped, hovering in front of my face. I turned the bottle upward, pouring it down my throat. The liquid was hot and thick. Soon the whole bottle was down my throat. I turned to Thalia and hurled the bottle a her. She caught it and turned it over. Not a single drop fell out. She strode over to me with surprising grace, considering how drunk she was, and passed out on top of me. I soon blacked out as well.

Athena watched the sky. It would be easy to launch an assault from the sky, for there was no cover. All you had to do was throw yourself at us, time and time again until there was no more mana to use against you. The sky suddenly shattered, long tendrils of darkness lashing out and hammering into the ground.

"Chandra!" Athena screamed, hoping to notify her before anything went wrong. Chadra mashed her fist into the runic circle on the wall. Four circles of flame surrounded the city, igniting the landscape around them. A crackling perimeter followed last. Armies dropped around the city, but they chose to hold their ground, for diving into the city would be no easy task. One mutated ogre charged through the rings, but quickly fell before the third. A blazing specter charged from the heavens, but was quickly shocked by the crackling perimeter. Athena let out a sigh of relief, thrilled that the perimeter was holding. She turned he eyes back to the sky. A man hovered there, his blonde hair held back in a single pony tail. She examined his garb, suspicious of its origins. Suddenly is hit her these were ancient garments, used to keep warm and often worn by adolescents. He was wearing a hoodie.

My eyes cracked open slowly, gradually exposing my pupils to the light. I was lying on a bed, with something resting in both arms. I looked to my left, my arm was swung over the side of the bed, a bottle of that black liquor between the fingers. I was afraid to look to my right. It was smooth, and its hair felt like the best woven silk. I let my head loll to the right, and my eyes were shot with shock. I had been expecting it to be there, but it shocked me nonetheless. Thalia looked beautiful whilst she slept.

The boy was from her father's time, my time. He had once been someone to call a friend, someone with a shoulder to cry on. Then he was a rival. He had to be outpaced, he had to be beaten. Now he is an enemy, and a powerful one at that. He had become powerful enough to qualify as a god. Bolas hovered beside Wesley. The two exchanged whispers between them, and then grinned ecstatically. They couldn't take this planet, but they didn't even need to. It would kill itself easily. The forges on the planet charged into the rings, killing themselves. Bolas and Wesley left the planet with grins that never wavered. Something was very clearly wrong.

"Hahahaha," Athena laughed, "HaHaHaHaHa... HAHAHAHAHA." Her eyes filled with blood until they dripped down, pooling between her toes. Her hair turned into a mass of flame and let sparks shoot off in every direction. Her finger grew into talons of shimmering stone, and soon bled through their cracks until they turned into a shade of red brighter than her flaming hair. Fangs grew from her mouth, ejecting her teeth to the ground, shattering them into white dust. Blood followed from her mouth, oozing, gushing, adding to the pool at her feet.

"I was wondering when you'd change," Chandra said as she strode up to her, followed by Gideon.

"You should've slew me when you had the chance," Athena said, sputtering through the thick blood that poured from her still gaping mouth. "I am more powerful than you can imagine."

"What is that thing?" Gideon asked, taken aback from the horrid sight before him.

"That," Chandra said, "Is Athena, the daughter of hell itself." Gideon tightened his grip on the whip-gauntlet on his arm. "No need," Chandra said, "Wilson and I prepared for this moment." Chandra reached to he back and took out a knife of holy light, specifically designed to take down Athena. Athena reared back her head in laughter, screeching and sputtering out blood.

"As have I!" Athena said in a tone that sounded triumphant, as though she had already won, "I'm bound to him! If I die, he dies and you're not about to let that happen, are you?"

"I will give my-" Chandra slapped Gideon, interrupting his speech.

"Like hell you will," Chandra said, determined to keep Gideon Alive. "What is it you want me to do." Athena smiled, pleased. She had the whole world wrapped around her finger.

"Slay them all."

I looked into Thalia's eyes as they peeped open, and I died in my soul. Her eyes were jet black and a diseased purple. Her eyes matched Lelliana perfectly.

"So that's how you survived," I said, a soul and heart lacking in my voice.

"You figured it out?" Lelliana said, shifting to her younger form.

"I suppose that's why the Angel was wilting as well."

"Yes."

"Is Thalia dead?"

"No."

"Is this ring real?" Was my final question. I pulled the ring from the bag to show her. She exhaled quietly,

"Yes."

"Do you know how to cast an Oblivion Ring?"

"Ask Zella."

"Who?"

"The angel."

"Very well," I said. I don't know why I didn't kill her to this day. The angel flew down to me before I said anything. He touched my forehead and I knew. We both knew this was coming. I could give semi accurate predictions of the future. The amplified Oblivion Ring was now mine. And I knew what to do.

Earth was odd. I could sense three planeswalkers, one of whom did not have an ignited spark. My daughter was there too, but she had changed. Tears flew from my eyes to the ground, my fury boiled out the top of my head, exploding my head into flame. I charged to the planet, only to be stopped by Chandra. I grabbed her by the neck ant threw her out into the inter dimensional gap between the planes. I crashed into my own city, ruining the throne of bones on which my daughter sat.

"Wait!" Gideon screamed, "We need her, she is one of the last powerful mages and planeswalkers in existence!"

"There's no one else left?" I said, "Truly no one?" Gideon shook his head,

"No one else is left, Garruk, Ajani, Jace, Sorin, all dead, but we have a weapon they don't"

"What?" Athena asked.

"You." She reared her hair back in laughter. She was an agent of the enemy and she knew it. I took this opportunity to attack.

"I built this city for YOU!" I cried. I didn't screech or shout the words. They flew out my mouth with the same current as my tears. I gripped her by the neck and screeched into her face.

"I am not your daughter," she retaliated, "I am my mothers!" I drew a dagger, enchanted and made of pure silver. I rushed, pumping my blood as I ran towds her, only to be stopped by my own dead. They clawed and bit, tore my flesh. I spun, releasing rolling tremors in all directions. I rushed at her, off balance from a tremor and gripped her by the neck. She clawed at my hands but it didn't stop me from popping he read skyward. I sent blood into the atmosphere and dropped my knees to the bodies of my homeland members. Through the tears flowing between my eyes I noticed two things. One was Gideon, panting heavily. He collapsed, the life force gone from him. The other was a boy, soot covering his face, an great power dwelling within him. I handed him my ring without saying a word, gripped him, but not before shielding him, and hurtled him to Ravnica.

"WESLY," I screamed to the heavens, my eyes locking with a pair planes away. Wesley and bolas landed beside me. I prepared my spell, twisting my hands to form an chute ring. My body began to shift to that of a were wolf, but stopped halfway. I sent the plane into exile, taking myself and the two godlike planeswalkers with me as I let my last words leave my lips.

"Checkmate."


	6. Author's Note

There is only one thing left to say I suppose, and that is thank you. It has been great to know people actually read this. Thank you for staying for the ride of this short fanfiction. A sequel may come out but not for some time, so don't get your hopes up. For now I'm going to work on other projects with some of my friends. Feel free to follow me on Tumblr at: Keep Sharp - RendedHeart


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